The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the group's thoughts "are with our colleagues and their families" following the kidnapping of seven Red Cross workers in northern Syria.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has called for the "immediate and unconditional release" of the seven workers kidnapped in northern Syria on Sunday.

Armed men abducted six ICRC staff members and one Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteer near Sareqeb, in north-western Syria as they travelled back to Damascus at around 11:30am (08:30 GMT) this morning.

Armed men abducted six ICRC staff members and one Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteer near Sareqeb

In a statement, the humanitarian group said: "We call for the immediate and unconditional release of the seven colleagues abducted this morning.

"Both the ICRC and the SARC work tirelessly to provide impartial humanitarian assistance for those most in need across Syria on both sides of the front lines, and incidents such as these potentially undermine our capacity to assist those who need us most."

The impact of possible chemical weapons in Syria on aid efforts would be difficult to anticipate, the International Red Cross said at a conference in the Switzerland headquarters.

Officials said it would attempt to continue humanitarian operations in Syria in the event of chemical weapons being used. Syria have denied that it would use chemical weapons. President Peter Maurer told reporters:

Our general assessment is that the conflict is expanding, that the ability to reach populations is not following at the same pace as the expanding conflict.

So we have an increasing gap between needs emerging and abilities to cover those needs, but we, despite all the difficulties, we keep up an important humanitarian activities in Syria.